It's been an exciting year for Android. We had a wide variety of devices come to market this year. Luckily though there wasn't an overabundance of them saturating the market like in 2011. Here at HQ we did some pondering and decided to share what we think are the 5 best Android phones of 2012. Of course, our opinion is subjective and open to debate.

But, that's what our site is all about... giving all of us a "forum" where we can come together and discuss all the new mobile technologies we are interested in. To that end, we are going to present our five favorites of the year in no particular order. We will leave it up to you guys to share in the thread which order you think these phones should go in from top to bottom. Also, if you feel that your favorite phone did not make the list, or that any of the phones on our list should not be on it, then sound off in the thread. We want to hear your perspective even more than we want to share our own.

Now, here are the top five Android smartphones of 2012, in no particular order.

Samsung Galaxy S III - This one almost needs no introduction. Certainly it may not be the most powerful of the devices on this list, but it was one of the top-dogs when it first debuted. This one makes the list on sheer star-power alone. Without a doubt the SGS3 was instrumental in helping Samsung rise above the vaunted iPhone in sell-ability and prove that a single competitor can unseat the mighty Apple.

HTC Droid DNA - This one was a hard choice. We wanted to make sure to include a phablet style phone in this list, and we almost chose the Samsung Galaxy Note II. In the end, the reason we picked the DNA was because of its gorgeous display, attractive aesthetics and overall advanced build quality and performance (despite its small battery). It barely edges out the GNote2, even though it was Samsung that pioneered the large style devices to begin with. The most impressive thing about this device is how small and light it feels in your hand, even though it is a 5-inch device.

Motorola Droid RAZR MAXX HD - This one was a no-brainer. This is without a doubt the best Motorola device ever (aside from the legendary OG Droid, of course). From its slim and lightweight, yet sturdy and strong design, all the way to it's fast performance and insanely good battery life, it would be hard to argue that this device doesn't deserve a space on this list. While the other manufacturers keep pushing fancy bells and whistles, Motorola just makes solid, reliable and powerful devices. You can't go wrong with this device in your pocket.

LG Nexus 4 - This one was a tough choice. For one, we were a bit miffed it didn't come with LTE for the US markets, and didn't come to Verizon. Two, it doesn't have a microSD card slot or a removable battery. Ultimately though, we have to acknowledge that the world is bigger than just the US, and the other features and performance of this pure android device are very impressive. This phone is easily the best Nexus device available, especially for the international markets. It also happens to be a remarkable value as well! In fact, it's doing so well it's constantly sold out! (Wait, is that another knock against it? Maybe, but it still deserves a spot on this list.)

Motorola Droid RAZR M - This last one might come as a surprise to a few of you. There were a ton of choices available, but we kept coming back to how impressed we were with the incredible value of this phone. It was light, sturdy, strong and fast, yet could be had for as little as $50 bucks through some of the third party carriers. This phone was another device that blew us away with how small it felt despite having a fairly large display size. In many ways, we think this phone hits that perfect sweet spot for mobile smartphones. It's not too big, and not too small. It's fast and efficient, but doesn't cost an arm and a leg. It can appeal to just about anyone, which makes it easily one of the best devices of the year.

That's it for our list of best smartphones of 2012, but we decided to spice this thread up a bit more to get the discussion going. We are going to include a poll with this one as well. The poll asks the question, which smartphone of 2012 was your favorite? We will include these 5 phones in the poll, and have a sixth slot for the "other" category, just in case you think a different device should be the winner. Also, don't forget to share in your reply post what order you would pick for the five best phones.

Honestly a horrible list. Not to be rude but it just seems like you took the latest and greatest and made them the "Best" of the years. Most of the phones on here have been out less then half a year. How on earth could you call them the Best of 2012? Just my two cents though.

I might get booed, but I still think the Verizon Galaxy Nexus is the best device out there. The sheer amount of development for this phone is insane and it's STILL going strong. This phone never gets old and stale. Spec-wise it's been trampled to death though by every phone out there, but to me it still performs very well despite the crappy battery life. I haven't been jealous of anything newer yet.

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